When does life begin? Jane Brock

 The topic of abortion is widely acknowledged to be a complex issue. Good, passionate people fight on both sides, both desperately striving to protect the meaning and sanctity of human life. This, however, is not true (Kreeft 1). G. K. Chesterton once said, “Moral issues are always terribly complex—for someone without principles.” Abortion is not a complex, moral dilemma. Abortion is murder. Murder, by definition, is the unjust taking of a human life. Because life begins at conception, any termination after fertilization takes a human life. However, pro-choice activists make three false arguments that need to be addressed. 

First, pro-choice advocates claim that the beginning of human life is a religious, not scientific question. Dr. Paulson, pro-choice professor, asserts, 

“What is interesting is that faith and religion are not listed as the reason for [the belief that life begins at fertilization]. Instead, they quote “scientists” who claim that “life begins at conception” is a scientific fact. Why do these [antiabortion] groups insist on this pretext of scientific legitimacy? Why not just say that this is a matter of faith? It seems quite obvious that this is done entirely to avoid having to answer why one person’s religion is being used to control someone else’s behavior” (Paulson 1). 

However, everyone has a worldview. A person—whether religious or not—can rarely argue any significant question while fully setting his worldview aside. A person’s worldview affects everything—how he lives, interacts, and thinks. That being said, this question is not merely answered on a whim. Scientists point to the fact that human life begins at conception. Steven Andrew Jacobs, from Northwestern Prizker School of Law, surveyed 2,899 American adults, of which 81% agreed that biologists are qualified to answer this question. He then questioned 5,502 biologists from 1,058 academic institutions. The results proved to be shocking with “overall, 95% of all biologists affirm[ing] the biological view that a human’s life begins at fertilization” (Jacobs 1). 

Next, pro-choice activists claim that abortion terminates a pregnancy; it does not kill a child. The child is often referred to as a fetus or embryo. These terms are used to put further distance from the fact that innocent lives are being lost. However, the terms embryo and fetus do not refer to a non-human, but a certain stage of human development (Alcorn 3). In fact the latin word fetus is literally translated as “offspring.” Badawy Khitamy says, “The development phases from zygote to adult human being are only quantitative, and not a change of substance. It is wrong to kill an unborn human being because she or he is identical to an entity which it would be wrong to kill at some time later in her or his development” (Khitamy 5). In other words, it’s morally wrong to kill a person in any stage of development, whether that be as a human fetus or as a human adult. At conception, the fetus has its own completely unique DNA, the same DNA he will have as an adult (Martinez and Johns 2). A terminated pregnancy stops a beating heart and kills brain waves (Alcorn 3). A terminated pregnancy kills a human child. 

Finally, pro-choice proponents often confuse the ability to function with personhood. They argue that in order to be a person, one needs to be able to function as a person. Many claim that a fetus is not yet a person, because it is not yet viable (cannot maintain life independently). Rather, a fetus is a potential life. The problem with these claims is that they reduce humanity down to function. Using the viewpoint of functionalism, one is only seen as a doctor, not as a woman who works as a doctor. Another is seen only as a police officer, not as a man who works as a police officer. Moreover, which attributes constitute personhood? The conscious ability to think? Move? Love? Communicate? In that case, a sleeping human is not a person. The present ability to think? Move? Love? Communicate? In that case a comatose patient is not a person. The future ability to think? Move? Love? Communicate? In that case a dying patient is not a person. Peter Kreeft says, “To say that some human beings are not persons is to say that only achievers, only successful functioners, only sufficiently intelligent performers, qualify as persons and have a right to life” (Kreeft 6-13). 

The same God who said, “Thou shalt not muder,” in Exodus 20:13, also declared to Jeremiah that “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5 KJV). David said, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51: KJV). In both of these examples, personal pronouns are used. God formed Jeremiah in the womb, and David talks about himself being conceived by his mother. While in the womb, Jeremiah and David were not just unviable organisms or potential lives, they were already humans for which God had a remarkable plan. The question of the beginning of life is not only a religious question—it is a moral question that can be answered by both Scripture and science. A terminated pregnancy kills a fetus that contains the exact same genetic make up as an adult human. Function does not determine personhood, rather function is a result of personhood. Human life begins at conception. Abortion attempts to dissuade one from this fact, and in doing so—justifies murder. 

Works Cited 

Alcorn, Randy. “The 39 Major Pro-Choice Arguments and Their Refutations.” Christian Life Resources, https://christianliferesources.com/beginning-of-life/abortion/the-39-major- prochoice-arguments-and-their-refutations. Accessed 15 December 2025. 

Jacobs, Andrew. “Biologists’ Consensus on ‘When Life Begins’ by Steven Andrew Jacobs.” SSRN, 6 August 2018, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3211703. Accessed 15 December 2025. 

Khitamy, Badawy. Divergent Views on Abortion and the Period of Ensoulment, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3616796/. Accessed 15 December 2025. 

“King James Version (KJV) – Version Information – BibleGateway.com.” Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/King-James-Version-KJV-Bible/. Accessed 15 December 2025. 

Kreeft, Peter. “Human Personhood Begins at Conception by Peter Kreeft.” Peter Kreeft, https://www.peterkreeft.com/topics-more/personhood.htm. Accessed 15 December 2025. 

Martinez, LaQuita, and Emory Johns. “Fetal development.” MedlinePlus, 23 August 2023, https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002398.htm. Accessed 15 December 2025. 

Paulson, Richard J. “It is worth repeating: “life begins at conception” is a religious, not scientific, concept.” PubMed Central, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9532882/. Accessed 15 December 2025. 

Jane Brock